WRITHE • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Writhe

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verb

Writhe v. t. (past writhed; past part. writhed, obs. or poetic writhen; pres. part. writhing)

To twist; to turn; now, usually, to twist or turn so as to distort; to wring. "With writhing (turning) of a pin." "Then Satan first knew pain, And writhed him to and fro." "Her mouth she writhed, her forehead taught to frown." "His battle-writhen arms, and mighty hands."

To wrest; to distort; to pervert. "The reason which he yieldeth showeth the least part of his meaning to be that whereunto his words are writhed."

To extort; to wring; to wrest. (R.) "The nobility hesitated not to follow the example of their sovereign in writhing money from them by every species of oppression."

Writhe v. i. To twist or contort the body; to be distorted; as, to writhe with agony. Also used figuratively. "After every attempt, he felt that he had failed, and writhed with shame and vexation."

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Etymology of 'Writhe'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Writhe" Quotes from Famous Books

... don't want to know? You'd rather continue to writhe on the gridiron than to turn over and fall into the fire and ...

— The Jucklins - A Novel • Opie Read

... easy job. The pig did writhe and twist, while the frantic mother danced up and down in the pen behind, and drove the surgeon nearly crazy with her noise. But he toiled bravely on, and when at last the operation was done, the heart of Romeo Augustus was knit unto ...

— Harper's Young People, March 23, 1880 - An Illustrated Weekly • Various

... crawling worms that in corruption breed, And on corruption batten, till at last Mistaken honour the proud victim cast Out to their spite, to writhe, and ...

— The Life of Thomas, Lord Cochrane, Tenth Earl of Dundonald, Vol. II • Thomas Lord Cochrane

... the boy who had caused the mishap, and who, knowing the effects of the master's fury, fled with precipitation. In one minute the offender was caught, and Mr. Lawley's heavy hand fell recklessly on his ears and back, until he screamed with terror. At last by a tremendous writhe, wrenching himself free, he darted towards the door, and Mr. Lawley, too exhausted to pursue, snatched his large gold watch out of his fob, and hurled it at the boy's retreating figure. The watch flew through the air;—crash! it had missed its aim, and, striking the ...

— Eric • Frederic William Farrar

... the finest ones found their way into the pool, and on Friday the cook and his men supplied the tables with fresh fish. How many times have I seen those fine fish, caught on the prongs of a spear, writhe and wriggle to get off. At first I could not taste them, I felt so sorry to see them killed in that way. I would not go out on Friday until after the fishing was done. The lamper eels crawled up the stream and the ...

— Sixty Years of California Song • Margaret Blake-Alverson

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